We were a little early for leaf peeping season,
but not for the fabulous hospitality of the
Northern Lake George Yacht Club membership and
the Lake George Star Fleet. 23 boats rallied for
the Lake George Open last weekend in Hague New
York. Eight fleets were represented from
Districts 1, 2, and 12. It has been 2 years
since the Open was last held and everyone was
psyched to come back to this 45 year old
tradition.

Friday, boat after boat arrived and the rigging
and camaraderie ensued. Old friendships were
rekindled, war stories were swapped and
assistance was rendered for everything from flat
tires, car breakdowns, boat set up and new
equipment deliveries. This is a very quiet and
peaceful setting in the Adirondack Forest. The
crystal clear waters of the lake, which is at
its deepest approximately 300 feet, were
stunning. There’s no peeing in the lake here!!!
The residents still drink the water and if you
do slip up you can be tossed from the regatta!!!
Fair warning! Dinner at the club was corn
chowdah (oh, I mean chowder, we’re not in
Boston!), grilled sausage, and homemade breads
and sweets by the NLGYC members. Delish!

The forecast for Saturday was light southerly
breeze. It took awhile to settle in and PRO
Donna Wotton made the good call to have us on
the water and ready for it. We ended up with
about 10 kts of breeze and the day just could
not have been more perfect! We had three solid
races for the day. Saturday night’s dinner was
also at the clubhouse, which is rustic, warm and
fully set up with a kitchen and great fireplace.
Club members catered the dinner with rib-eye
steaks, chicken and baked potatoes perfectly
cooked from the grill, sides of veggies and
wonderful carrot cake for dessert. Members of
the junior racing team (I mean ‘future Star
sailors’) were our wait staff and clean-up crew.
What a great bunch of young people.

Sunday took much longer for the breeze to settle
in. Donna made several attempts to get a race
off. She was successful finally at 11 o’clock.
It was a typical lake breeze, lifts by the
shores, streaks down the middle. In the end John
MacCausland and Kevin Murphy were the winners,
followed by Mark Passmore and John Finch and
then Bob Krahulik and Chris Rogers.

Commodore Peter Abell handed out the trophies so
we could all get on the road. The membership got
busy putting the club away for the winter……
junior boats and equipment inside, tables put
away and kitchen cleaned out. Bye, Bye
summer!

Thank you to all of the members of the Lake
George Star Fleet and the members of the NLGYC
for their hospitality. It was great to meet some
of the Star ‘characters’ from the past (Mrs.
Dhein, the Wottons, Mrs. Kennedy) Rumor was that
Hank Rowan was out watching the races too! Geez,
Hank, next time stop by—we would have loved to
see you too!